Jeff Austin Band with special guests, Darol Anger and Jay Starling

Bio

The Jeff Austin Band is no stranger to JHMF. Last year’s collaboration with the Travelling McCourys, presenting the Grateful Ball, drew rave reviews from all over the nation. This year, in an exclusive set for JHMF, the Jeff Austin Band along with guests Darol Anger and Jay Starling, will present John Hartford’s game changing newgrass album, Aeroplane, to close out our festival on Saturday night! . Austin is building on the foundations of previous ventures while honing his own sound and charting new courses.“I’ve learned a lot from the people I’ve played with,” says Austin who has shared stages with such luminaries as Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Earle Scruggs, Jon Fishman, and Phil Lesh. And it’s artists such as these who have helped crystalise Austin’s idea of what he wants to do as he moves forward with his eponymous projects. “From both the rock side and the bluegrass side,” he explains, “I’ve learned a lot about song structure, solo ideas, playing with guts, and being who you are.”

As the son of founding Seldom Scene member John Starling, Jay Starling had music in his bones from the start. From classical piano (he began at age seven) to delta blues and electric guitar, he was fascinated. By high school, he was reaching further, experimenting with drums, keyboards and electric bass. Jay is well known in the national Bluegrass/Americana circuit having performed with singer/songwriter Adrienne Young and dobro with tie-dye circuit staple, Keller Williams. Fiddler, composer, producer and educator, Darol Anger is at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent. He has performed and taught all over the world with musicians such as Dr. Billy Taylor, Bela Fleck, Bill Evans, Edgar Meyer, Bill Frisell, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Tim O’Brien, The Anonymous 4, Marin Alsop and the Cabrillo Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, Mark O’Connor, and Stephane Grappelli. Darol is this year’s JHMF Artist at Large.